Project Description

Steve Reich’s Clapping Music

more beautiful than you can imagine

London Sinfonietta / Touch Press

July 2015

59 Productions directed the video for the performances in a new app from the London Sinfonietta and Touchpress. The performances of Clapping Music and Electric Counterpoint by Steve Reich were filmed in a multicamera shoot in March 2015, together with interviews with performers David Hockings, Toby Kearney and Mats Bergström which are included in the app and available online.

Steve Reich’s Clapping Music is a free game that improves your rhythm by challenging you to play Steve Reich’s ground-breaking work – a piece of music performed entirely by clapping. Tap in time with the constantly shifting pattern, and progress through all of the variations. If you slip up or your accuracy falls too low, it’s game over.

The app is part of a research project led by Queen Mary University of London. The aim of the project is to explore if gaming experiences can help people learn musical skills, and if this leads to a deeper engagement with the arts.